Khan Chun! The battle is over. In the late autumn, the army was able to save grain and grass supplies, but it was only enough for the army for half a month, and after weighing it, he knew that Yuan Shu, who fled to Runan, was no longer in the climate, so he decided to withdraw his troops and return to Xuchang. Because there is still a Runan County between Shouchun and Xuchang, although Shouchun can be reached from Yaozhou through Huaibei, but the distance is very far, Cao Cao did not leave a large army to garrison Shouchun on the grounds of inconvenience management.

Whether the reason is as Cao Cao said, it is not known. I only know that Cao Cao secretly saw Liu Bei before returning to Xuchang, and the two chatted for two hours before they dispersed.

At the same time that Cao Cao captured Shouchun, news came from Lujiang County that Sun Ce, who had been constantly fighting with Cai Mao's army, suddenly raided Lujiang City. Liu Xun thought that Sun Ce had been fighting Cai Mao all along. How did he expect it to attack suddenly, and he was caught off guard by Sun Ce and abandoned the city and fled. Sun Ce captured Lujiang City, the seat of Lujiang County.

Cao Cao was about to return to Xuchang before receiving this news, his heart was secretly shocked, when he learned that the real situation was Zhou Yu's plan, first and Cai Mao kept fighting to let Liu Xun relax his vigilance, and then launched a surprise attack, and Sun Ce himself was also the first soldier, the first to enter the city, so the morale of the generals in the army was greatly boosted, and they fought hard to kill the head of the city and capture Lujiang.

After Cao Cao learned the news, he sighed secretly: "Sun Wentai's good son Xiaobawang joined forces with Mei Zhoulang and should be the great enemy. Under such circumstances, Cao Cao began to pay special attention to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

The battle on the Huainan side did not end until the end of autumn. Cao Cao captured Shouchun, burned down the palace, and maintained the majesty of the Son of Heaven. Lu Bu was robbed by Huaibei. But at the same time, it also lost a lot of troops. Liu Bei doesn't seem to have gotten anything, but he has a secret alliance with Cao Cao, and how much benefit he has gained is not known to outsiders. Sun Ce captured Lujiang City, except for a few counties close to Jiangxia County in the west, the entire Lujiang County obeyed Sun Ce, and the goal set by Zhou Yu was also completed. Cai Mao also captured many county towns in Lujiang County, but he failed to prevent Sun Ce from taking Lujiang County, and he also lost his troops. and almost nothing, which gave the opponent a foothold in Jiangbei.

The princes of the Five Roads discussed the south together, but they beat the originally rich Huainan into a thousand holes, and the flooding of the Huai River before made the people of Henan miserable. This is also the reason why Cao Cao abandoned Shouchun and wanted to expand Huainan into a rich land. There are too many manpower and material resources needed, and Cao Cao, who has always had little money and food, naturally does not have so many manpower and material resources to show Huainan.

The people of Huainan are miserable, but Guanzhong is a bumper harvest, since the Xiliang North Palace Boyu Rebellion, Guanzhong has been fighting year after year, including more than ten major wars, and hundreds of battles. Guanzhong has not tried such a bumper harvest for more than ten years, and abundant food and clothing have always been a simple and difficult wish of the people to achieve in troubled times. But the people under Zhang Xiu's rule can basically achieve this wish, so the people of Guanzhong have set up immortal cards for Zhang Xiu, Zhong Xuan and others at home.

In addition to the bumper harvest in Guanzhong, the other four counties of Sili and Nanyang and Hanzhong are also the same, although the harvest in Liangzhou is not as much as these counties, but for Liangzhou, it is also a bumper harvest. In addition to the uncontrollable reasons for the wind and rain, the most important thing is the application of the plough and the overturner, do not underestimate this simple farm tool, it is this simple farm tool that makes the yield per mu increase greatly. In particular, the Quyuan plow, a farm tool that only appeared in the Tang Dynasty in history, appeared in advance, so that Zhang Xiu no longer worried about grain and grass like the princes of the late Han Dynasty in history.

At the same time as the bumper harvest under Zhang Xiu's rule, good news also came from the border horses, except for the strong resistance encountered in the place where the Zhuhu tribe of Dirong was first entered, and after being defeated by the Ma army, there was no more major war. This is because the horse defeated Zhuhu. There is naturally a reason why Zhang Xiu's officials can enter this place to govern, and Zhang Xiu's policy can be supported by the Qiang people. When Zhang Xiu's officials stationed in Longxi County governed the place where the Zhuhu of Dirong lived for a month, the Zhuhu of Dirong no longer resisted Zhang Xiu's governance, and gradually laid down their arms to accept Zhang Xiu's governance.

Longxi, Yinping, and Hanyang were completely pacified before winter. The trade routes to the west also extended to these places. Because of the trade routes, these places also gradually began to become prosperous, and some old people vaguely saw that these places had the prosperity of the Han Dynasty when they were children.

After the harvest, winter is coming, and the year will pass, and this year the Kanto region has been in great wars, and I don't know how many people have frozen to death and starved to death in winter. And the people under Zhang Xiu's rule are enough to withstand this cold winter in terms of food and winter clothes. Winter went to spring and came again, and the time soon entered the fourth year of Jian'an (the year of the Yuan blade).

In the mansion of the general of Chang'an, Zhang Xiu and the civil and military forces were impressively listed.

Zhang Xiu smiled and said: "The ice and snow have melted, and early spring has arrived. Last year, Meng Qi set the border and made great contributions, and this year he should do his best to pacify Liangzhou in one fell swoop, I don't know what you think? ”

Zhang Xiu's tone for Pingliangzhou this year has long been set. Everyone nodded in unison, and the generals were already grinding their fists and elbows.

Zhang Xiu saw it, nodded and said: "The elite corps does not need to participate in spring ploughing, I will think that the opportunity cannot be lost, now immediately reorganize the army, when the troops are dispatched after three days, defeat Han Sui within three months, and pacify Liangzhou, so that the land of Xinping can also be cultivated before the end of spring, and there is no need to waste too much food to help the people of Liangzhou."

When Zhong Xuan heard this, he immediately agreed: "What the lord said is very true, if you can make up the ploughing at the end of spring, you can save a lot of grain. Zhong Chai, as Zhang Xiu's big housekeeper, was very stunned about the money and grain, and Zhang Xiu's meaning naturally immediately agreed, if he wanted Zhang Xiu's rule to send grain to help the people in Xinping, then the food saved before would bottom out again.

Zhao Yun heard this, nodded and said, "What the lord said is reasonable, I don't know how many troops are prepared to send this time?"

Zhang Xiu saw the excited eyes of the generals sitting down. Even Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, who have always been calm, couldn't hide it, but they knew that only Ma alone led the troops to the expedition last year, pacifying the Hu people in Longxi and Yinping, so they were naturally a little blushing. In terms of merit, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong and other generals are naturally far more than Ma, but Ma's contribution this time is not ordinary, this is a great merit of Pingbian, and it can definitely go down in history. Due to the influence of Emperor Wu Shi Weiqing and Huo Quai, the Han generals were very yearning for the merits of Pingbian and expanding the territory. This is not the same level as the credit of the war between the princes, in the hearts of many Han generals, the credit of a great war in the civil strife is also different from the credit of the small war of the Ten Frontiers of the Frontier Six Zhang embroidered to the end of the Han Dynasty has been twenty years, and he is a martial artist, so he naturally knows what they think, and he does not sell Guanzi, and said: "This time to send troops. The infantry soldiers were originally going to lead 15,000 Breaking Blade Battalions and 3,000 Blood Blade Battalions, and the cavalry was to lead 30,000 thundercloud cavalry, including 20,000 thunder cavalry and 10,000 cloud cavalry. In addition, a total of 50,000 Pangulux and Ben Jiang's personal guards went north from Xiaoguan and went straight to Jincheng. Zilong, Ziyi, Ling Ming and his lieutenant generals went out with the general. Meng Qi led 40,000 Qiang cavalry from Tianshui to the north and joined the general's army in Jincheng. "When you are called to the public, you will naturally be excited to make a promise.

Huang Zhong didn't nod himself when he heard this, and his heart was anxious. asked: "Lord, why don't you let the Flying Feather Bow Cavalry go out to deal with the Xiliang Cavalry, my Flying Feather Bow Cavalry is its nemesis." ”

Zhang Xiu heard this, and laughed: "Han Sheng stayed in Chang'an with the Flying Feather Bow Rider this time, and the general has a secret weapon this time, so that those Hu people who are not satisfied with the general will know the power of my Han Dynasty." ”

Huang Zhong heard this and said suspiciously: "Secret weapon? ”

Over there, Jia Xu, Fa Zheng and the others who knew the inside story looked at each other and smiled. The plan was decided, and everyone immediately went out to reorganize the army and prepare for the expedition in three days.

Three days later, the army came out of Chang'an, all the way to the south, to Tianshui and then went north to lead the troops by horses, all the way Zhang Xiu himself led the army, out of Xiaoguan, and went straight to Jincheng.

As soon as Zhang Xiu's army left Chang'an, there was already a spy Pegasus to report to Han Sui in Jincheng, and when he heard that Zhang Xiu's army was attacking, he was naturally shocked and immediately summoned Cheng Gongying to discuss.

When I saw Cheng Gongying come in. Han Sui hurriedly pulled him and said, "Gongying, Zhang Xiu's army went out of Chang'an and came to attack Jincheng in two ways. Zhang Xiu of the East Road personally led the elite out of Xiaoguan, and the Qiang cavalry of the South Road Ma came from Tianshui to the north. Zhang Xiu said that each army was 100,000, a total of 200,000 troops, and the spies also found that Zhang Xiu's army was definitely not less than 100,000. The general's current available army is less than 40,000, so what can I do? ”

200,000 vs. 40,000, the difference is huge, of course, Han Sui and Cheng Gongying also know that the 200,000 water is quite large, but even according to the report of the spies, the 100,000 army is not something that Han Sui's 40,000 horses can shake. In addition, Huaxiong's 70,000 troops are in Liangzhou, as long as Zhang Xiu gives an order, these 70,000 troops can immediately come to support.

Cheng Gongying sighed and said, "For today's plan, only the Xunqiang people will come to help in the war."

Cheng Gongying didn't mention the Qiang people, but as soon as he mentioned Han Sui, he said angrily: "It's those Qiang people who don't stop attacking counties and plundering grain, grass and weapons, if it weren't for this, there would have been more than 40,000 troops now." The first Lingqiang department is also a waste, and it is said to be the largest department of the Qiang people. Let them command those Xiaoqiang troops not to attack, and the counties under the rule of the general can't, waste! It's all rubbish! ”

Cheng Gongying's face changed when he heard this, obviously Han Sui had already scolded him too, but Cheng Gongying was quite well-cultivated, and after frowning, his face returned to normal, and said: "Lord, if you don't invite the Qiang people to help in the battle, this battle will definitely be lost, if you invite the Qiang people to help in the battle, the lord will shrink his forces again and fight Zhang Xiu in a decisive battle under the golden city." As long as Zhang Xiu can be repelled in a battle, then Zhang Xiu will not dare to do it again this year. At the same time, the Qiang people, who were funded by Zhang Xiu and made trouble everywhere, were intimidated by the power of the lord and would not dare to attack the county again. ”

Han Sui listened, settled down, and asked, "Isn't this a battle against the water?" ”

Cheng Gongying nodded and said: "The only way to do this is to fight against the water, although the strength of Xian Lingqiang is not as good as before, but from its subordinates and the many small Qiang tribes that follow its subordinates, An should be able to recruit a lot of people." ”

Han Sui nodded and asked, "How much can you recruit?" ”

Cheng Gongying silently calculated and said, "More than sixty thousand." ”

Han Sui heard it and sighed: "It's not enough." Zhang Xiu's army is all elite, even if there are 60,000 Qiang soldiers to help in the battle, plus the army under the command of this general, it is only about 100,000, and 100,000 is not Zhang Xiu's opponent. ”

Cheng Gongying heard it and said, "Jun is looking for as many Qiang soldiers as possible, please rest assured." ”

Han Sui heard this, nodded and said, "That's the only way." The order was passed down, and all the generals of each county led the troops back to Jincheng, and there must be no mistake. ”

After Zhang Xiu's army left Xiaoguan, it invaded the northwest of Anding County, and went to Jincheng to all the counties along the way, and after Zhang Xiu entered the city, there was not a single defender in the city. Along the way, the county towns were looking at the wind, and the Qiang people who rebelled in Han Sui's rule saw Zhang Xiu's army coming. But he followed Zhang Xiu's army from the ground. And more and more gathered, when entering the territory of Jincheng County, there were already 20,000 scattered Sanke people who followed Zhang Xiu's army forward.

Zhang Xiu saw that these Qiang people were scattered, so he asked Huo Jia and Wang Chang to command this army, so as not to let this army be too scattered and become a burden to the army. Seeing that Zhang Xiu sent someone to command, these Qiang people were also happy to obey orders, and Huo Du and Wang Chang simply reorganized this army composed of scattered Qiang people and continued to follow Zhang Xiu.

After entering the territory of Jincheng County, more small groups of scattered Qiang people joined the team. They were all incorporated into the army by Huo Jia and Wang Chang, and when they arrived under the Jincheng of Dezhi, this scattered army had 30,000 people.

Entering the territory of Jincheng County, Zhang Xiu had already contacted Ma, and the two of them camped together and rested enough before going to Jincheng together. When he arrived at the city, he saw that Fu Sui had already let more than 100,000 troops wait under the city, and the two sides had a total of more than 200,000 troops facing each other under the city of Jincheng.

As early as between leaving Xiao Pass, seeing that there were no defenders in all counties, Zhang Xiu, Jia Xu, Fa Zheng, and Yang Fu expected that Han Sui was shrinking his forces and preparing for a decisive battle with him, so it was not surprising to see Han Sui's army in Jincheng City. However, seeing that Han Sui gathered so many Qiang soldiers to help in the battle, Zhang Xiu was also slightly surprised.

The two armies confronted each other, Zhang Xiu came out of the formation, pointed at Han Sui and said: "Traitor Han Sui, this general's army has arrived, if you are captured, you can still spare your life, if you resist stubbornly, don't blame the gun for being merciless!" ”

The Qiang people who helped Han Sui saw Zhang Xiu, who was the Purple Horse Golden Gun, coming out of the formation, and remembering the person rumored in the clan, they all shouted in a loud voice: "It's the Gun King of the Northland!" The Han warriors who defeated the warriors of our clan in a row back then! Northland Gun King Zhang Xiu! ”

Han Sui didn't hear the Qiang people whispering, but replied loudly: "Zhang Xiu, you don't need to talk so much nonsense!" I also understand the success of the king and the defeat of the king. Let's go head-to-head today to see who is the lord of Liangzhou! ”